Mid Sweden University

In recent times, populist movements have proven to be politically successful worldwide, also in Europe. Namely, in Spain and Sweden, variations of populism have surfaced in several political systems, and they have become strong. Successful performances of right-wing populist parties in Northern and Southern Europe are followed by an increased polarisation of media criticism and the questions of media impartiality and authentic legitimacy, especially in public service media. While the more market interest-oriented and private media’s opposition to public service media has been extensively discussed, the driving forces behind a more ideologically oriented criticism have been less investigated. This criticism matches populism perfectly, as public service media is portrayed as representative of a political elite distanced from the perspectives of ‘real’ people. However, public service media also brings the national culture, language, and values that populist parties repeatedly argue. This chapter aims to shed new light on the public parties’ views on public service media in Spain and Sweden by comparing the standpoints of populist parties in both countries. This comparative study offers new insights into the motives and driving forces behind populist parties’ ideologies regarding public service media in Spain and Sweden. 

Purpose – How does right-wing populist discourse evolve in response to increased parliamentary influence overtime? This study analyses party leader debates of the Sweden Democrats (SD) in the Swedish parliamentbetween 2010 and 2024, focusing on four key populist elements: people-centrism, anti-elitism, popularsovereignty and antagonism.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on the inclusion-moderation thesis and existing theories of populistcommunication, we map and interpret shifts in the discourse over time. Previous research has often focused onhighly mediatized arenas, such as news media outlets and social media, which are also posited to be conducive to“sloganized” and sensationalist forms of communication. The study adds to current research by redeployingearlier conceptualizations of populist communication in a highly formalized and regulated environment. Using amixture of qualitative and quantitative analyses, we assess changes in the frequency and configuration ofpopulist elements in the SD’s discourse.Findings – Our findings reveal that the SD have largely maintained its populist discourse as per configuration,while the overall frequency of populist instances has declined between 2010 and 2024. The discourse emphasizesa strong focus on being representatives of the “people” as opposed to the corrupt “elites” throughout the years.Originality/value – Observed shifts in how this internal logic is substantiated shed light on the adaptable natureof populist communication. These results offer new insights into the evolving nature of populist communicationin a parliamentary context.

Lokaltidningskoncernen Mittmedia stod 2018 på ruinens brant. Checkkrediten var utnyttjad, det var tveksamt om löner skulle kunna betalas ut och oron bland personalen var stor. Räddningen för bolaget kom när svenska Bonnier och norska Amedia tillsammans köpte koncernen 2019. Men samtidigt som ekonomin var ansträngd, var den digitala kompetensen inom koncernen i absolut framkant. Under nästan ett decennium hade Mittmedia gjort en uppmärksammad digitaliseringsresa där man genomfört mer genomgripande förändringar än någon annan mediekoncern i Sverige. 

Denna bok är en berättelse om de människor som arbetade inom Mittmediakoncernen under 2010-talet. De digitala spjutspetsar som fick arbeta med utvecklingsfrågor befann sig på en fantastisk arbetsplats, men många medarbetare hade det tufft när sparpaket, uppsägningar och omorganisationer avlöste varandra. 

Boken ger ett forskningsperspektiv på Mittmedias digitala omställning och baseras på retrospektiva intervjuer med personer med redaktionella medarbetare, fackligt förtroendevalda, bolagsstyrelse och ledning, Genom ett unikt samarbetsavtal har forskarna också fått tillgång till en stor mängd interna dokument.